Today's Diddy Games

[donsdaft]

Not enough min.

It's never enough.

It never will be.

[sonofrgmsdad]

It's amazing what can be achieved by picking players who actually play and guys that play in Scotland. Well done Stevie Clarke.

Agree with the sentiment about players who actually play but I'd say actually want to play. It's always seemed to be the case that Scots playing down south and 2nd generation Scots (those with mums or dads that were Scottish) don't seem to try as hard. Always thought that if we could get the effort from our players that the Northern Irish get from theirs we'd be a much better team.

Credit to Clarke for having more Scots from the Scottish League in the squad.

To defeat my own viewpoint there were 6 players in the team last night who play down south and a further 3 that came on.

Notwithstanding, the effort from the players last night was worthy of wearing a Scottish jersey. Well done on qualifying.

[DonUnder]

Agree with the sentiment about players who actually play but I'd say actually want to play. It's always seemed to be the case that Scots playing down south and 2nd generation Scots (those with mums or dads that were Scottish) don't seem to try as hard. Always thought that if we could get the effort from our players that the Northern Irish get from theirs we'd be a much better team.

Credit to Clarke for having more Scots from the Scottish League in the squad.

To defeat my own viewpoint there were 6 players in the team last night who play down south and a further 3 that came on.

Notwithstanding, the effort from the players last night was worthy of wearing a Scottish jersey. Well done on qualifying.

Lyndon Dykes (born Gold Coast Qld) got many votes as MOM. hailing from somewhere with a reputation for indolence. Kenny Mclean (Weegie) has a reputation, with some, for not getting his shirt dirty. Strength of character has FA to do with what dirt is under yer ma's erse when you're slapped into life.

All too Neitzche.

[Aldo1983]

Agree with the sentiment about players who actually play but I'd say actually want to play. It's always seemed to be the case that Scots playing down south and 2nd generation Scots (those with mums or dads that were Scottish) don't seem to try as hard. Always thought that if we could get the effort from our players that the Northern Irish get from theirs we'd be a much better team.

Credit to Clarke for having more Scots from the Scottish League in the squad.

To defeat my own viewpoint there were 6 players in the team last night who play down south and a further 3 that came on.

Notwithstanding, the effort from the players last night was worthy of wearing a Scottish jersey. Well done on qualifying.

I think the mix is good. There's nothing wrong with picking the majority of the team from other leagues (which is almost exclusively going to be the english leagues) if they are playing regular and playing well but he's not overlooking guys like Considine (regardless of what you think of them).

Clarke gets it. He knows what most Scottish football fans want and that's a fair crack at the whip and some positivity. He also knows that picking Scottish based players is a big deal for them and the clubs they are at.

It wasn't so long ago that Hutton was guaranteed a game even when he didn't have a club.

If McCrorie and Ferguson continue the way they have then they'll be in the squad for the finals, that's only a good thing for us.

[donsdaft]

I would love to see Considine in the squad for the finals too.

Particularly if they hold the finals in Russia, as seems to be the current thinking.

Spreading the games across Europe was a f'uckin ridiculous idea in the first place.

[rico94]

I’ll give that it’s a while since I sang “we’ll support you evermore “ while watching us beat England 2-0 at Hampden in 1974.

But my main difficulty in watching North Britain playing football stems from the Scots utter cowardness when faced with the prospect of self determination.

Aye ok, you were giving it the “I don’t give a flying fvck about the national team “ long before 2014.

Don’t worry though you aren’t the only Scotland fan coming out of the woodwork today

[57vintage]

I was pleased they won, and actually enjoyed watching an international match for once.

However, the hype has already started, and those of us old enough to remember 1978 (where sometimes it seemed that I was the only one failing to get excited about it all) are very wary. I’m actually old enough to remember 1965 and the expectations raised before we were creamed 3-0 in Naples.

Add to that the pish of international breaks, Theo never getting a sniff of a squad place, the fanny support, the utter rip-off admission prices, and the fact that it’s the corrupt SFA’s works team, the same SFA that sold the telly rights to satellite, and you might begin to understand the cynicism of some of us. Maybe not, of course.

[donsdaft]

Aye ok, you were giving it the “I don’t give a flying fvck about the national team “ long before 2014.

Don’t worry though you aren’t the only Scotland fan coming out of the woodwork today

Well, I thought the first half was absolute p’ish, they did well enough in the second.
I admit to feeling a wee bit tense in the final 10 minutes, and of course they f’ucked it up.

Anyway, I’m glad they qualified but I wouldn’t really have given a flying f’uck if they hadn’t.

It’s not like they’re the Dons, is it?

[rico94]

Well, I thought the first half was absolute p’ish, they did well enough in the second.
I admit to feeling a wee bit tense in the final 10 minutes, and of course they f’ucked it up.

Anyway, I’m glad they qualified but I wouldn’t really have given a flying f’uck if they hadn’t.

It’s not like they’re the Dons, is it?

No I agree with you there.

Anyway where’s rst these days to tell us fvck the sfa?

[Jupiter]

Like in every other tournament, we won't get out of the group.

[Aldo1983]

I was pleased they won, and actually enjoyed watching an international match for once.

However, the hype has already started, and those of us old enough to remember 1978 (where sometimes it seemed that I was the only one failing to get excited about it all) are very wary. I’m actually old enough to remember 1965 and the expectations raised before we were creamed 3-0 in Naples.

Add to that the pish of international breaks, Theo never getting a sniff of a squad place, the fanny support, the utter rip-off admission prices, and the fact that it’s the corrupt SFA’s works team, the same SFA that sold the telly rights to satellite, and you might begin to understand the cynicism of some of us. Maybe not, of course.

I like the hype. It's like supporting Aberdeen playing a semi final against Celtic. You know we won't win but you get excited anyway.

[57vintage]

BBC’s online profile of Clarke describes Scotland thus: “a set-up so beaten down by failure that the wailing and gnashing that used to follow failed campaigns was becoming a mere shrug of the shoulders” in assessing the job he inherited.

I still pretty much feel that way. Any defeat for Aberdeen, and Keith failures against certain cabals of sister-beefing inbred throwbacks usually ruin a weekend (a bit less so now with every day being a day off since I quit capitalist exploitation 365 days ago). Where a Scotland defeat is infrequently shown on cooncil TV, I tend to be over my disappointment by the time I’ve primed the coffee maker for a post- match reviver.

The BBC piece is quite insightful, though.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/54908387

[sonofrgmsdad]

Scotland's players deserve some credit for going 9 games in a row unbeaten. Also for qualifying (albeit via the playoffs rather than the groups). They also deserve credit for appearing to put in greater effort in games than some of their predecessors.

However within this there are some questions that need asking. We qualified by penalties because we couldn't score enough goals. We threw away the latest nations league group by winning both games against the group winners but not scoring enough goals against the weaker teams.

Although we got away with it, we took off our best penalty takers when it looked like we needed them to win a game.

I couldn't understand why, when in the pole position, we played our 'B' team against the weakest team in the group when, if we had won, there would have been no pressure on the final game, where we could have played the 'B' team for experience without pressure to win. I understand we may not have wanted to play the top team in all three games but surely securing qualifying against the bottom team with out top team would have been the way to go.

The manager has a few decisions that are questionable.

[Mason89]

You’re not a big fan of your questions going unanswered

[57vintage]

I believe Scotland lost yesterday.

I'm OK with that result, though, since one cannot be too careful in seeking to avoid the bringing on of certain charges, in light of the nagging burning issue in a parliamentary institution 500+ miles from here.

Careful now.

Bombing Syria (I have an alibi) is perfectly permissible though.